It appeared without warning
Tracey Crarer and her telephone pole
A mum has been left fuming after a huge “eyesore” telegraph pole was erected just two metres away from her living room window. Tracey Crarer, 51, has lived in her home for 30 years – but now wants to sell up and leave due to the 26ft (8m) BT pole which now towers above her property.
The mum-of-two was left stunned when she returned home from work one day to find workmen had removed her fence panel and had started installing the ugly structure without any prior consultation. The wraparound decking at the rear of the property now almost touches the new pole while she has also been left with wires stretching across her back garden.
She says it means she can no longer enjoy being outdoors due to her views being spoiled as well as the powerful smell of creosote coming from the pole.
Tracey, who provides laundry services for holiday lets, now fears being unable to sell her home due to the “monstrosity” which was erected last summer. She complained to BT Openreach only to be told if she wanted the pole moved she would have to pay for it herself, which is expected to cost thousands of pounds.
Tracey, who lives with her husband and two children, aged 18 and 25, said: “My houses now feels like a fly trapped in a spider’s web. I loved our house, we’ve been here since 1995, but now I hate it and I no longer want to be here anymore. But who is going to buy it now?
“If I want to build a bigger fence I can’t without planning permission and they will make you trim your hedges if they are a few inches too high – yet BT Openreach appear to be able to do whatever they want. I know they haven’t done anything illegally but they have just done it without saying anything and no consultation. People have a right to wi-fi in their homes but I also have a right to enjoy my home.
“I can’t open up my windows anymore due to the horrendous smell of creosote coming from it and I don’t want to open my living room curtains so all I can see is that pole. I loved sitting outdoors but now I would rather stay inside or just be at work seven days a week.”
Tracey said the first she knew of the telegraph pole being installed was when she found workmen digging up her Derbyshire street on June 17 last year.
She added: “I was returning home in between jobs one day when I noticed these workmen digging a hole and they had also removed by fence panel and placed it on the pavement. I asked what they were doing and they explained how they had planning permission to install this pole which we had received no notification about at all. I thought anything involving planning permission they would have to consult neighbours first but we had nothing at all about it but I thought there was nothing I could really do.”
After contacting BT Openreach Tracey says she was told staff would not visit the site and even argued the wires do not stretch across her garden without sending out an engineer.
She added: “We obviously complained and we were told notifications had been put up – that is simply not true, there are two lampposts by us and nothing was ever put on there. As the wires were left overhanging my garden, I’ve got magpies and crows sitting on the line doing their business on the sheets I need to clean for work, so it is affecting my livelihood too. There’s also bird muck all over my decking, it has just ruined my enjoyment of the outdoors. But they say the wires don’t go over my gardens, but you can clearly see that they do, yet they refuse to come and look and have closed the case.
“No engineers have been out to inspect this at any point. BT Openreach even confirmed everything had been done via desktop, so all on a computer basically. It is all to service five properties so they can have wi-fi – but none of those houses are us, so it doesn’t even benefit us in the slightest.
“There are multiple other suitable locations down a nearby alley or at the end of very long gardens – yet they chose to plonk it right next to my house and garden. They said if we wanted it moved then we would have to pay for it ourselves.
“I just can’t believe anyone thought it would be a good idea to erect a telegraph pole this close to a house.”
County councillor Sue Burfoot, who is supporting Tracey, said: “They have basically said, ‘you don’t matter, we don’t care, we can do what we want and you can’t do anything about it’. It is just bad practice. There is a clear loss of residential amenity, as we would say in planning terms.”
An Openreach spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear about the concerns raised and we’re looking into the situation. Wherever we can, we use our existing poles and underground ducts when upgrading the network. We keep new poles to a minimum, but occasionally they’re needed to make sure people can be connected. We always follow local planning rules and we try to work considerately in all of our communities.”
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